


Enchanted Apples

by OctolingO



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Gen, Heroes and Villains AU, Respawning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:28:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27809884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OctolingO/pseuds/OctolingO
Summary: Wilbur Soot and team fight for L’Manberg’s freedom against Schlatt’s team of usurpers.(Superpowers AU)
Relationships: ALL PLATONIC, Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit
Kudos: 32





	1. Chapter 1

Wilbur woke up to a buzz on his communicator. Blinking the sleep from his eyes, he leaned over and looked at the message:

**Blade: Get to downtown now Schlatt and co are here**

Wilbur cursed under his breath. Schlatt and his associates, men who went by the titles of Quackity, George, and Fundy, had been terrorizing L’Manberg for months. Previously, they had just been annoyances, and not difficult to drive away with the combined strength of the Pogtopians, but their attacks had been growing more and more violent as of late. The Pogtopians had even had to enlist the help of a group once called the Four Muffinteers, and before that the Dream Team, though the group was down to two of its original members due to George having betrayed them to fight alongside Schlatt, and Bad having removed himself from the fighting altogether. Even with just two of them, Dream and Sapnap were a formidable force. 

But not as formidable as the Pogtopians. Schlatt only had a group of four, whilst Wilbur had almost twice that number. 

Wilbur put on his brown trench coat, shoved a beanie on his head, and leapt through his apartment wall (the apartment wasn’t technically his, but no one else was living there). He climbed down the side of the wall and took off at a sprint towards downtown L’Manberg. As he neared, it became clear that Schlatt was in another one of his murderous rages. Schlatt did not have a superpower, as ram horns did not give him any abilities, but he was incredibly charismatic and very skilled with an axe. Besides, with Quackity on his side, getting grievously injured was not something he needed to fear. 

Wilbur drew his shimmering diamond sword as he neared the fighting, glancing as Tubbo flew over head. The boy’s bee wings were torn in the corner, but he was still going strong. Tommy was probably hiding in a building somewhere with his rifle, and Technoblade was in the center of the fighting. 

As usual. 

Wilbur gave a small sigh of exasperation and ran forward, swinging his sword at George. George grinned and leapt back, the lenses of his goggles flashing as they scanned Wilbur. A bullet pinged off of George’s armor, and Tommy’s curse was heard over the clanging of metal. 

“Wilbur!” Technoblade’s voice boomed. “Duck!” Wilbur hit the ground as a car flew over his head, thrown by the Piglin hybrid. Technoblade’s face and hands were stained with blood, most of which was probably Schlatt’s. The entity inside him was probably raging, and his haggard appearance alluded to that. George only smirked, firing a laser from his goggles and slicing the car in two. 

“You’ll have to do more than that, Pig Boy!” He teased. Technoblade growled. 

“Oh, I see that Wilbur’s joined the party!” Schlatt shouted. Wilbur spun, seeing the horned man idly twirling his axe with a bored and amused expression. Wilbur’s vision flashed red for a moment, bombarding him with memories of Schlatt’s exiling him.  _ No.  _ He thought fiercely.  _ We cannot think about that.  _ “How are things going in that hellhole that you call home?” 

“Good, because you’re not there.” Wilbur spat. Schlatt threw his head back and laughed.

“You’re a funny guy Wilbur, has anyone ever told you that?”   
“Shut up, loser!” Once again, Tommy was one of the loudest people on the battlefield. The gunshot that followed his insult was louder. Judging by the way Schlatt grimaced, his head snapping back, Tommy had caught him in the throat. 

“Sir!” That was Quackity, noticing that Schlatt had been shot. The other man held out a hand, firing a bolt of greenish energy that knit Schlatt’s flesh back together and allowed him to keep fighting. The only hint that he had ever been injured was a bloodstain. Schlatt leapt forward, swinging his axe in a downward arc that Wilbur parried, gritting his teeth. Technoblade’s head whipped around, watching the battle for a moment before hungrily returning to his fight against George. Fundy was still nowhere to be found, but he had a tendency to chicken out in the middle of fighting. Wilbur had always known he was a coward. Schlatt sneered at Wilbur and leaned to the side to avoid a sword strike, following up with a wicked punch to Wilbur’s jaw that flung the other man to the ground. Schlatt let a grin appear on his face, relishing in the thought that he might be able to spear Wilbur through the gut and put him out of commission for a few days. 

A fireball took him in the shoulder, and though it was quickly healed by Quackity, it sent him staggering backwards. A gloved hand grabbed Wilbur’s arm and pulled him to his feet, and Wilbur turned to see Dream’s masked face looking at him. 

“Are you alright?”

“Fine, thanks.” Wilbur removed himself from Dream’s grip. “Sapnap’s sure having fun, isn’t he?” The two men turned and looked at their raven-haired companion, who was flinging fireballs at Schlatt like his life depended on it, and laughing while he did so. 

“We haven’t fought in a week, he’s a little trigger happy.” Dream said, and even though Wilbur couldn’t see his face, he knew there was a smirk under the white mask. Schlatt was not amused by Dream and Sapnap’s sudden appearance, shouting in rage and stomping his foot. Dream ran past Schlatt at breakneck speed (superhuman speed being his main ability), pausing for a moment to flick one of Schlatt’s horns, just to be petty. 

“Dream!” That was Technoblade, almost smiling. Though the two had had their squabbles, their powers complemented each other nicely. Dream saluted to Technoblade before facing George, who was starting to look worried. The brown-haired man took one second to glance between Techno and Dream before taking off in a dash. Dream laughed his strange wheezing laugh. 

“C’mere George!” He shouted, and George shrieked.  _ Well, that’s one down for now.  _ Wilbur thought to himself. 

“Tommy! I need cover fire!” Tubbo flew past Wilbur and up towards Tommy’s hiding place, Eret hot on his heels. The white-eyed man was grinning. 

“When did Eret get here?!” Tommy exclaimed. 

“Don’t know!” Tubbo shook his head, making his bee antennae sway back and forth. “But I could use some help!”

“Got it!” 

“Don’t you fly away from me, Tubbo!” Eret called, soaring up towards the boy. Tubbo yelped and took off, Tommy doing his best to fire at Eret and give Tubbo time to escape. 

“Look who decided to join us.” Techno said with a crooked smile. He pointed up, and Wilbur turned to see Fundy gripping a flagpole. The fox hybrid looked… disappointed, for some reason. “Should I take him out?” Techno sounded eager, as he often did once the fighting really started to pick up. 

“Blood for the blood god.” Wilbur said, not taking his eyes off Fundy. Techno chuckled low in his throat and started walking—walking, as if he didn’t have a care in the world—towards Fundy’s building. 

Back in the fighting, Quackity was using all of his healing magic to keep Schlatt standing as Sapnap continued to pelt the ram-horned man with fireballs. Schlatt was beginning to look truly angry, and he got careless and deadly when he was angry. 

“Sapnap!” Wilbur shouted. He had to cup his hands around his mouth to be heard over the roaring of fire and ringing of gunshots. Sapnap turned his head ever so slightly to let Wilbur know he was listening. “Stop! You’re going to make him mad!”   
“That’s the idea, GhostBur!” Sapnap said with a cheeky grin. Wilbur rolled his eyes. The nickname he had been given, GhostBur, had been coined by Tommy after Wilbur’s ability to turn intangible had been discovered. It had originally been very funny, but a battlefield did not seem the best place to be calling people nicknames. 

“Will someone just get rid of this guy?” Schlatt complained, giving only a slight exclamation of pain when a fireball grazed his face. Quackity nodded, forgoing healing Schlatt for a moment as he threw a knife at Sapnap. Sapnap wasn’t paying enough attention to Quackity, and the knife went into his face right below his left eye. He screamed and fell to the ground.

“Sapnap!” George and Dream both exclaimed, and they both looked equally shocked. Dream landed a lightning fast punch to George’s face that knocked the other man down, then sprinted over to Sapnap, who was still screaming. 

“That’s much better.” Schlatt said, and he spat in Sapnap’s face. Dream slowly looked at Schlatt, the murderous expression easy to imagine on his face. Schlatt simply raised an eyebrow, as if taunting Dream to come and get him. 

And then Tubbo barrelled into him from behind. Schlatt was knocked to the ground with a heavily breathing Tubbo standing over him, and his axe was flung from his hand. Tubbo immediately scrambled forward and grabbed the axe, hands trembling as he pointed it at Schlatt. Eret gave one shout of agony before dropping from the sky, signaling that Tommy had finally managed to land a bullet in his chest. It wouldn’t be a devastating injury—Eret was most assuredly dead, but he would appear at Respawn in the next few days with a scar as the only reminder of his injury—but it was more than enough to take him out for the time being. 

“Kill him Tubbo!” Wilbur grinned. Tubbo’s eyes were wide, and Schlatt didn’t look afraid in the slightest. He looked curious. Tubbo started swinging the axe back, preparing to behead Schlatt, and a firework took him in the back, sending him flying across the square and skidding to a halt in a smoldering heap. Technoblade leapt down from the building, not so much as flinching at the impossibly high jump. It seemed the creature inside of him had completely taken over, if the blood smeared all over his face, blood that was most definitely Fundy’s, gave any clues. Technoblade raised the firework-loaded crossbow at Schlatt and fired it three times: more than enough times to kill Schlatt. A bullet then went right through Techno’s chest, and there were five dead people in the L’Manberg square. 

Tommy sprinted out into the square, gun raised and pointing at anyone who so much as moved. Quackity was already running away, heading towards Respawn so he would be there when Schlatt, Eret, and Fundy were revived. Dream had George in a headlock, and George was staring in shock at Sapnap’s body. 

“Five minutes.” Dream said. “Then you get out of here.” He released George, who ran over to Sapnap. Tommy knelt next to Tubbo, and Wilbur sighed. Somehow, their fights always ended in excessive violence. Everyone would be revived in the next few days, and there would probably be a lapse in fighting while those who had been killed recuperated. 

Wilbur turned, Tommy standing up and wiping at his face as he followed. 

“We need to get to Respawn.” Tommy said, and even though his voice broke Wilbur ignored it. “You know how startled Tubbo gets if no one is there.”   
“I know.” Wilbur said. His mind was elsewhere, though. Why had Tubbo hesitated when about to kill Schlatt? Were they working together? No, that would be absurd. And yet, Wilbur and Tommy wouldn’t have hesitated in the slightest. 

As Wilbur and Tommy started walking towards Respawn, Wilbur found himself feeling more and more uneasy. 


	2. Chapter 2

Quackity hid behind one of the buildings, breathing hard. George was still “paying respects” to Sapnap, but Wilbur and Tommy and Dream had already started leaving. Quackity poked his head around the corner and was satisfied when he couldn’t see the three of them anymore. He walked back into the square and stood next to George, and Sapnap’s body. Quackity looked away from the corpse, closing his eyes. He’d seen more than his fair share of bodies, but it never got any easier. And this particularly bloody one had been created by his own hands. 

Especially not when he had healing powers that could’ve saved Sapnap, had he been faster. Even though he knew how far his abilities could go, Quackity felt like it must be possible for him to find a way to revive people. His healing powers worked more effectively than Niki’s, the healer for the Pogtopians. 

“Why did you kill him?” George demanded, spinning towards Quackity. “Well?”

“He’s not on our side.” Quackity said defensively. “And he was killing Schlatt.”   
“Schlatt still ended up dead! So you killed him,  _ painfully _ , for nothing!” George was starting to shout, so Quackity shouted right back. 

“Of course I killed him! That’s all we do in this god-forsaken city!” George stood up sharply. 

“Maybe I should kill you! You’ve betrayed us before!” Quackity had to force himself not to flinch. He knew leaving Schlatt after the destruction of the White House had been foolish, he knew it had. And he’d come to terms with it. But yet, if he had, why did it still hurt so much? He looked back up at George. 

“Look, George, I—”

“No, don’t you ‘George’ me! You just killed my best friend! One of the two people in this world that I’m loyal to!” In his anger, George failed to realize that he had just revealed his loyalties. Quackity felt a pit in his stomach, accompanied by a sense of satisfaction. It was a very uncomfortable combination. 

“Who’s the other person?” He said, consciously calming his voice. “It isn’t Schlatt, is it.” George’s eyes went wide behind his goggles and his face paled. He turned, already starting to hyperventilate as he sprinted away into the setting sun. “Yeah, you’d better run! You filthy coward!” Once George had disappeared, Quackity sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair. That was another one down. Schlatt’s trust was fragile, especially after discovering that Tubbo had been a double agent and secretly working for Wilbur, but hopefully George’s betrayal wouldn’t send him over the edge. George had a tendency to be late to most battles anyway. 

Back in the Pogtopia base, Wilbur idly flicked a lighter on and off, watching the dancing flame. He was trying to forget Tubbo’s hesitation, he knew it had probably been nothing and that Tubbo had just been nervous, but worrying was one of his superpowers, so to speak. 

“Wilbur.” Tommy said, walking into the room. Wilbur started, quickly shoving the lighter in his pocket. “We have to get going.” 

“Right, right.” Wilbur stood up. “Lead the way, then.” Tommy nodded, climbing up the ladder that connected Pogtopia to the outside world. They took a moment to stop in the dirt shack and grab supplies: food, some armor, and weaponry. Fighting was outlawed at Respawn, and in the Badlands in general, but it never hurt to be careful. 

Niki was outside, tending to the two horses that were kept in a pen outside. She looked up and smiled at them as they came outside. Wilbur noticed, with a pang, that there were tear streaks on her cheeks. Being their group’s healer, she always took deaths harder than anyone else did. She would’ve come on every mission if she could, but her healing powers drained her energy to use, and they had learned quickly that it was not safe to have someone pass out in the middle of a battle. Niki had the scars on her back to prove it. 

“Niki!” Tommy greeted, smiling. “Wanna come with us to Respawn?”

“Um, sure.” Niki replied. “Is it just the two of you?”

“Yeah.” Wilbur answered this time. 

“Oh. I thought maybe you would meet up with Dream.”

“No, I’m not even sure where Dream is.” Wilbur said honestly. It was true, he hadn’t seen Dream since the battle yesterday. Hopefully the masked man wasn’t injured and lost somewhere. 

“He’s probably fine.” Tommy said. Wilbur nodded in agreement, even though part of his mind was worrying. Tubbo’s hesitation was still in the back of his mind too. He’d decided to let it go unless Tubbo showed more signs of going to Schlatt’s side. Wilbur got onto one of the horses, a brown mare, and Tommy got onto the grey spotted one. Niki climbed up behind Wilbur and wrapped her arms around his waist for stability, though she seemed hesitant in doing so. Tommy led the way through the forest and towards Respawn, Wilbur absentmindedly following behind him.

Two days later, Bad was awoken by Skeppy shaking his shoulders. He blinked his eyes open and blindly grabbed for his glasses. Once he put them on, Skeppy’s rather grim expression became all the more clear. 

“They fought again, didn’t they.” Bad said. Skeppy nodded. “Who’s here?”   
“Wilbur, Tommy, and Niki. Dream and George are behind them.”   
“Dream? With  _ George _ ?” Bad was stunned. They were on opposing sides of war, why would they be in a group? Skeppy didn’t offer a response, only a shrug. 

“You should grab a weapon before going. Tommy looks on edge.” Skeppy grabbed his diamond sword, throwing it in the air and catching it. He morphed it into a short knife, swung the knife around a bit, and then morphed it back into a sword. Bad, on the other hand, made no move to grab the iron sword next to his bed.    
“Tommy always looks on edge.” He reasoned. “I don’t need to take a weapon.”   
“You might want to, Bad.”   
“Skeppy, I don’t wanna have to fight anybody! Respawn is supposed to be peaceful, and if I kill someone they don’t come back!” Skeppy sighed, and Halo made a concerned whistle inside Bad’s head. 

“I know.” The boy said. “I just worry.” Bad ruffled Skeppy’s hair as he passed, and Skeppy chuckled softly before following out into the sunlight. As always, Halo hissed at the bright light. Bad did his best to ignore the hissing. They watched as Wilbur, Niki, and Tommy rode closer. Dream was with George, just as Skeppy had said. The dark haired man’s nose looked like it had been broken, and he was clinging tightly to Dream as they ran (so as to not get left behind). Tommy rode with his back straight, though his eyes darted around and he was chewing on a fingernail. Wilbur was not doing much better. His head hung in his saddle, and when he glanced up Bad could easily see the bags under his eyes and how his bones stuck out around his face. It was hard not to stare; it had only been two weeks since Bad had last seen Wilbur! How did things get this bad? Bad shook himself. There was no time to dwell on that now. 

“Hey Bad.” Dream greeted, running up in a green blur. George, standing next to him, looked like he was going to pass out. Dream had a steadying hand on his shoulder. 

“Hi, Dream.” Bad said faintly. “Why is George here?”   
“He rejoined me—us.” Dream answered. “I guess he finally got sick of Schlatt.”   
“Got sick of Quackity, more like.” George muttered. He glanced up at Bad. “Hello.” Bad wasn’t able to manage much more than a wave, still completely shocked. 

“Dream, um…” Bad pulled a very full notebook from his pack. “I need to write down the casualties?” Bad’s notebook was for the purpose of keeping a record of everyone who had died and how, simply so no one could forget how painful the wars were, and so Bad could properly pay everyone their respects. 

“Let’s see.” Dream tapped his chin. “Techno mauled Fundy, I think.” Bad swallowed and wrote it down in the section of the book reserved for Fundy. “Tommy shot Techno and Eret, Techno shot Tubbo and Schlatt with that firework crossbow he has, and,” Dream’s grip on George’s shoulder tightened, “Quackity threw a knife at Sapnap’s face.” Bad sighed to himself as he wrote. Most of the people involved in the war had died at least twenty times, and Techno was responsible for more of the deaths than anyone else in the fighting. Surprisingly, Wilbur had died the most, mostly from getting overconfident. 

“When was the fight?”

“Three days ago.” George was the one to answer, almost timidly. Bad nodded his thanks. 

“So they should all be respawning soon, then.”

“Yeah.” 

“Heya Bad, why don’t you go talk to Wilbur?” Skeppy said. He walked up to the three of them and made a discreet head jerk in Wilbur’s direction. “I have some things I want to talk to Dream about.” Bad nodded, despite the fact that he was confused, and jogged over to where Wilbur and Niki were having a hushed conversation. 

“Bad!” Niki said, smiling. “It’s good to see you.”   
“Hi Niki. How are you?”   
“Could be better, honestly.”   
“Oh, Bad.” Wilbur blinked a few times, as if just realizing Bad was standing in front of him. “Hello.” 

“Are you okay, Wilbur?” 

“Yeah yeah, I’m fine.” Wilbur fiddled with something in his pocket that made a clicking noise. Bad chewed on his lip, knowing Wilbur was lying, but he didn’t press the other man on the issue. Halo hummed a melancholy tune that Bad pointedly ignored. 

“Tubbo!” Tommy exclaimed, looking over Bad’s shoulder. The glowing orange portal of Respawn was shining almost too brightly to be looked at; signaling people were coming through it, and Tubbo was first in line. He had burn marks on the back of his neck, alluding to more on his back, hidden by his loose green shirt. The burns were a strange combination with the yellow and black stripes on his cheeks. He was walking unsteadily, fluttering his wings in order to maintain his balance. Tommy grinned and ran over to Tubbo, hugging the other boy fiercely. Tubbo patted Tommy’s back and walked back over to Wilbur and Niki. He received a hug from Niki too, but Wilbur simply waved and smiled. Dream even seemed excited to see him, which was unusual. 

Sapnap came next, with an ugly pink scar under his eye. 

“Hey Dream!” Sapnap waved. “Isn’t my scar cool?”   
“Super cool, Sappitus Nappitus.” Dream teased. “George left Schlatt’s side.” He patted George on the back. Sapnap gave George a skeptical look, but he was still smiling. 

“Good to know you finally came to your senses.” Sapnap said. 

“Ha, yeah.” George looked away, flushing under his goggles. Respawn whooshed behind them, and Technoblade stumbled out of it. 

“Hey nerds.” He said, nodding and saluting to Wilbur, before turning and emptying his lunch into a bush. Bad grimaced. Respawning hit everyone differently, but Techno always seemed to take it the worst. 

“It’s good to see you, Techno.” Wilbur said. He glanced back at Respawn. “Fundy, Schlatt, and Eret are who’s left, right?” Techno nodded, wiping at his mouth. “Then let’s get going.” Tommy pulled Techno up onto his horse, with Niki once again riding with Wilbur. Tubbo flew behind them, and Dream tugged George and Sapnap with them. In a blur, the Pogtopians and Dream Team were gone. 

“There they are.” Skeppy said, glaring at Respawn as Fundy stepped through it. The fox hybrid’s face was covered in scars, more than usual, and his furry ears and tail still looked matted. Techno truly had done a number on him. Eret flew through next, laughing as he soared as high as he dared. 

“Finally!” He exclaimed. “I’m out!”

“It was only three days, Drama Boy.” Schlatt traced a finger along one of his horns as he walked out. He had burn scars similar to Tubbo’s, except they looked like they went under his shirt as well as being all over his arms and face (he had been hit from the front, while Tubbo had been hit by the fireworks from the back). “Relax.”   
“Yeah, well you’re not claustrophobic,  _ Schlatt _ .” Eret flew past Schlatt’s face, his bright white eyes glowing. Schlatt ignored him, striding over to Bad and Skeppy. Skeppy narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on his diamond sword. 

“I’m not gonna hurt him!” Schlatt said, grinning. “I take it the filth left already?”

“Don’t call them filth.” Bad told him. “But yes,  _ Wilbur _ and  _ Dream _ and their whole group left.” Schlatt rolled his eyes. 

“Picky picky.” He taunted. “Well, thanks for not immediately killing us.” Schlatt laughed at Bad’s horrified face. He turned to Fundy and Eret, who had landed. “Come on, we gotta get back to Manberg.” As always, Eret grimaced slightly at Schlatt’s refusal to call it L’Manberg. Schlatt turned, beginning to walk back towards L’Manberg. Fundy followed a few paces behind, with Eret at the back, occasionally zipping in front to check for anyone in the vicinity. 

“I don’t like him.” Bad muttered. “He’s scary.” He looked like he was trying to bore a hole in Schlatt’s back, and Halo was humming angrily. Skeppy could sympathize with his friend. Schlatt was scary, especially when he’d stabbed a sword through your gut before. 


	3. Chapter 3

Once the Pogtopians were asleep, Wilbur found himself worrying again. He wasn’t even worrying about Tubbo this time, he was just worried. What if Schlatt stabbed them all in their sleep? What if  _ Bad _ did? He shook his head; the idea of Bad stabbing anyone was ridiculous. He glanced down at his lighter and watched the flickering flame for a few more seconds before walking over to Technoblade, who appeared to be sleeping. It only took a few steps towards him before he was roused, however. The being (entity, deity, god, Wilbur wasn’t sure what to call it) kept him on high alert at all times. 

Techno stood up, grabbing his voluminous red cape, with its fur lining, and wrapped it around him. The crown he almost always wore glimmered in the moonlight. 

“I was havin’ a good sleep, y’know.” He said, speaking with the slight lisp he often got after just waking up, as if his tongue had forgotten how to speak around the tusks that protruded from his lip. “What’s up?”   
“I want to talk to you about a few days ago.” 

“If it’s about killin’ Tubbo, I’m not gonna apologize.” Techno folded his arms stubbornly, blowing a bit of his unruly pink hair out of his eyes. 

“No no, it’s not about that. Though it does have to do with Tubbo.” Wilbur wrung his hands. “He hesitated, when he was about to kill Schlatt.”   
“Indeed he did. So I shot him with the Rocket Launcher to speed things up.” Techno smiled, like shooting his adopted brother with a crossbow was a good thing. 

“But why did he hesitate?” Wilbur said, carding his fingers through his hair. They got stuck on a few tangles, so he yanked hard enough to bring tears to his eyes before dropping his hands to his sides again. 

“He was probably stressed.” Techno said. He was being reasonable, Wilbur knew he was, and yet a small part of his brain couldn’t let it go. “Not everyone in these fights has nerves of steel, y’know.” 

“I know.” Wilbur muttered. Techno put a hand on Wilbur’s shoulder, making the other man look up. Physical contact from Technoblade was not a common thing. 

“Don’t worry about it. Tubbo is completely dedicated to Tommy and you, you know he is.” 

“Yeah.” Wilbur took a deep breath. “Thank you, Technoblade.”

“Sure. Now please, Wilbur. Get some sleep. Don’t try to tell me you’ve slept these last few days, I know you too well.” Wilbur laughed softly, lying down on the ground. He didn’t have a blanket or anything of the sort, no one in their camp did, but his trench coat worked just as well. 

The stone walls of Pogtopia were cold, and there were no voices echoing through the ravine. Quackity knew they would be gone at Respawn, and since it took almost two days to return, he had time, even time before Schlatt, Fundy, and Eret got back to L’Manberg. Eret was the fastest one, but he had to rest during long flights, and the recent Respawn meant he would be more tired than usual. 

Nevertheless, Quackity kept his grip tight on his knife, the same one he had used to kill Sapnap. It still had some blood on it because he hadn’t bothered to clean it off. He was searching every room in Pogtopia, hoping to find some sort of  _ something _ that would allow him to gain the upper hand. His side was certainly surviving, but they were outnumbered, and one of these days, Schlatt was going to get tired of being defeated.  _ And do what?  _ His mind asked.  _ Give up?  _ Quackity shook his head; Schlatt would never give up. 

He walked up to a doorway with a sign that read “GhostBur’s Library” Wilbur had originally been written instead of GhostBur, but someone had crossed it out. Quackity chuckled to himself. He would certainly like Wilbur more if the other man was a ghost. 

The library was probably too small to be called such. There was one bookshelf in the corner piled high with books, but that was it. Quackity quickly scanned over the books, most of which were not worth reading. 

Most. One particular book, with a smear of blue-black ink on the spine, caught his attention. It wasn’t labeled until he looked at the front and saw the title:  _ Powers and Properties _ . A relatively uniform title, but it seemed like something that could have worthwhile information within its pages. The first few pages of the book were useless to him, mostly listing how to handle out of control abilities (and Quackity’s powers were anything but out of control). About halfway through the book, there was a section on magical weapons and items. Quackity paid special attention to this part. Mostly, it depicted rare enchantments for weapons, like Multishot or Riptide. The page for Multishot looked like it had been read a lot, judging by the bent corner and smudged ink. Technoblade was probably the one who had read it; he had a crossbow that fired a ridiculous amount of fireworks. Quackity had been on the receiving end of those fireworks once before, and he still woke up clawing at the burn scars it had left every now and then. 

And then Quackity turned to a page that almost made him drop the book in shock. The page was entitled  _ God Apples _ in a flowing script, written with golden ink. Quackity’s eyes were wide as he read the page: 

_ The God Apple is a mysterious item that can boost the powers of one, or gift powers to one who had previously not possessed them. It is difficult to make, and due to this there has not been many tests determining the true extent of its powers. It requires an apple, made of solid gold, to begin the crafting process. The apple must then be soaked in the blood of anyone who intends to eat it. It can be eaten without this step, but those who consume it are killed by it soon after.  _

__ _ Following being soaked in blood, the apple must be left outside in the full moon to become enchanted, and then it may be consumed, and its powers will take effect.  _

The next page had a more detailed and scientific description of the God Apple process, but Quackity didn’t bother reading it. His fingers were trembling. This was it! He could finally boost his powers and push Schlatt to victory! Closing the book, Quackity clutched it close to his chest as he ran from Pogtopia, grinning to himself. 

“Dream—” George protested, and even though he was clinging onto Dream and was inches away from the masked man’s ear, his voice was almost swept away in the wind. “Can we stop?” Dream skidded to a halt, depositing Sapnap and George on the ground. George had turned the color of a sheet. 

“How can you  _ do _ that, Dream.” Sapnap muttered. “I would get so tired.”   
“I did, at first.” Dream said. “It takes practice.” He turned, facing towards George. “How long do you need to rest?” 

“Not sure.” George said, breathing so quickly that Dream feared he was going to start hyperventilating. Sapnap noticed this too, and put his hand on George’s shoulder, hoping to provide some form of comfort. George gave him one sideways glance and a grateful smile. Sapnap and Dream waited for George to catch his breath before Sapnap asked a question:

“How did you break your nose? I don’t remember anything like that from the battle.” 

“Dream punched me, when I showed up.” George replied nonchalantly. “Before I told him I wasn’t working with Schlatt anymore.”

“And thank God you’re not, because Schlatt sucks.” Dream put in. George laughed. 

“Schlatt sucks indeed.” George scratched around his goggles with a barely noticeable wince. “Alright, I think I’m ready to go.” He swallowed and squared his shoulders, then grabbed onto Dream’s arm. Sapnap did the same. Dream took off, the world blurring past him in a wild spectrum of colors. 


End file.
